A monthly payroll checklist for Mauritian employers

Payroll goes wrong in the small steps nobody wrote down. Use this list every month, in this order, and most mistakes never reach a payslip.

Before the run

1. Update the staff list. Add new joiners with their start date, and record leavers with their last working day and reason for leaving. Both change what they are paid and what is owed to them.
2. Check salary changes. Confirm any raise, new allowance or change of hours has an effective date inside the right month.
3. Close attendance. Look for missing clock-outs and unexplained absences, and correct them with a reason. See overtime and attendance records.
4. Approve leave. Unpaid leave and sick leave beyond entitlement change the pay for the month.
5. Enter one-off items. Commission, a bonus, arrears, an expense refund, an advance or a loan repayment, each with a reason, so they are on the payslip and not in someone’s memory.

The run

1. Generate the payroll. Check statutory deductions are using the rates in force (see CSG and NSF rates and how PAYE is calculated).
2. Review the exceptions. Compare against last month: anyone whose net pay moved a lot, anyone paid nothing, anyone new. Most errors show up here.
3. Approve and lock the run. After approval the figures should not change quietly; corrections go in as a visible adjustment.

After the run

1. Send payslips and pay. Give every employee a payslip, then make the bank payments from the same approved figures.
2. File with the MRA. Generate the monthly return and PRGF file from the approved run, and file before the end of the following month. See returns and deadlines.